


Recipe

by eraofstories



Series: Era's Festival of Lights Fest 2020 fics [4]
Category: Newsies - All Media Types
Genre: era isn't really specified, the shippiness isn't explicit but know that in my head they are definitely together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:06:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28064424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eraofstories/pseuds/eraofstories
Summary: Katherine learns to make latkes from Sarah and Esther.
Relationships: Sarah Jacobs & Katherine Plumber Pulitzer, Sarah Jacobs/Katherine Plumber Pulitzer
Series: Era's Festival of Lights Fest 2020 fics [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2051151
Kudos: 5
Collections: Festival of Lights Fest





	Recipe

**Author's Note:**

> Joseph Pulitzer was Jewish, but also didn't really talk about being Jewish very much (and, for example, didn't tell his fiancée or her family that he was until after they were married apparently, which is w i l d to me). His wife obviously wasn't, and I've extrapolated from that to suppose that it's unlikely Katherine would have had someone to teach her how to make latkes. Today's prompt was oil and/or fried foods, and coincidentally I spent several hours today making brisket and latkes of my own, so it was very thematically appropriate. (I am not entirely happy with it, I liked the concept but I'm a bit eh on the actual story I wrote, but after all the time I spent cooking today my writing time was a bit limited.)

As Sarah and Katherine neared the door to the Jacobs’ home Katherine grabbed Sarah’s hand, pulling her back a bit before she could open the door. “Are you sure that I won’t be a bother? I don’t want to intrude.” 

Sarah laughed. “Kath, I don’t know how many times I have to tell you, Mama’s excited about this! Another person to boss around in the kitchen? As far as she’s concerned that’s a Chanukah miracle on its own!”

“If you’re sure. I don’t know how much help I’ll actually be. She knows I’ve never made latkes before, right? I’ve never even had them.”

“Yes, Kath, she knows. It’s fine, I promise. You can’t be worse than Papa is, I’m pretty sure it’s literally impossible. Come on,” with that statement Sarah firmly grabbed Katherine’s hand, and with her free hand opened the door to the apartment, calling “Hello Mama, your helpers are here and ready to work!” 

Esther was already in the kitchen, but as the girls entered the home and hung up their coats she put aside the bowls she’d been preparing for potatoes and drew first Sarah and then Katherine into warm, tight hugs. “Oh Katherine, I’m so glad you’re joining us tonight! Sarah says you’ve never gotten to have latkes before?” 

Katherine nodded, still a little anxious. “My father doesn’t really cook, and of course my mother wouldn’t know how, it just wasn’t ever really a thing.” She shrugged a little sheepishly. 

“Well, that’s no good at all, we can certainly fix that! Let’s start with potatoes. I’ve already gotten them all cleaned, so it’s grating time ladies!” She pulled both of them into the kitchen, and carefully showed Katherine how to grate the potatoes into the bowl, making a point to remind her several times to “watch your fingers, just because Sarah’s an excellent seamstress doesn’t mean we want a demonstration of her sewing skills tonight.” 

Katherine nodded seriously, and set about grating potatoes, trying to copy the motions Esther had shown her and watching Sarah out of the corner of her eye. By the time they were out of potatoes Sarah’s pile of grated potatoes was about twice the size of Katherine’s, but their end results looked pretty similar, and Esther seemed pleased, so Katherine decided to consider it a win. 

Esther proceeded to add salt, a bit of flour, and some eggs, adding as an aside to Katherine, “Now, most people you meet will tell you to add onions, but I’ve never cared for them, and, not to brag, but my latkes are the best of anyone I know, so.” She smiled as she said it, like she was sharing a secret, and Katherine couldn’t help but return the smile. 

Esther pulled one of the large bowls filled with latke batter over to the stovetop and lit the burners under two heavy pans filled with oil. “Now, while that gets hot it’s time for some aprons. I’m afraid you’ll have to use David’s Katherine, we haven’t got a spare.” 

Sure enough, the apron Esther handed her had “David” neatly embroidered on the chest, with vines twining through the capital D. “Your handiwork?” she asked, turning to Sarah. At the other girl’s nod she grinned, “It’s lovely.” 

Sarah blushed, “Well, it’s silly to spend time on an apron, they’re just there to get dirty, but it was fun.”

The three of them returned to the kitchen, and so began one of the most stressful hours of Katherine’s life to date. It turned out that there was a lot involved in making sure that the oil was the right temperature, and the latkes stuck together and didn’t disintegrate into lots of little bits of potato floating on their own in the oil, and being sure to turn them at the right time. And then they had to get them out of the oil at the right time, and blot at the oil with kitchen towels. With two pans going at once it seemed like everyone was moving constantly, and they didn’t even have time to pause when the men got home one by one, Les from school and selling the evening edition and Mayer and David from their own jobs. 

When the last latke came out of the oil Katherine was surprised to find that the table had been set, presumably by Les or David, but not as surprised as she was to discover that she’d stopped feeling nervous about all of it, so focused on doing the next thing Esther directed her to do. As she pulled off her borrowed apron and handed it to Sarah to put away and watched Esther gathering the plate of latkes and the applesauce she’d been working on while the girls had grated the potatoes she found that the anxiety about doing something wrong didn’t sneak back in the way she’d have expected. 

She just felt like it made sense to be where she was as she stood beside Sarah for the candle lighting. And when she bit into her first latke, and tasted the contrast of the crispy potato and the sweet applesauce she grinned. “Oh, wow, I can see why it’s worth all that work now!” 

“I told you, didn’t I?” said Sarah laughing. 

“I believe your exact words were ‘It’s a travesty that you haven’t had latkes Kath, and if you don’t come for dinner during Chanukah I won’t talk about anything else for the next year,’ and I yielded to your great wisdom.”

“Well,” said Sarah, with a primness that was belied by the glint in her eyes, “I was simply doing what is best for you, and it’s worked out well hasn’t it? Besides, I didn’t have to grate all of the potatoes by myself.”

“Ah, so the truth finally comes out, now I know why you really wanted me to come!” 

That got laughs all around the table. 

By the time Katherine, Sarah, and David (who Esther had insisted needed to walk with the girls if they were going to insist on going out at night) were putting their coats back on Katherine couldn’t remember the last time she’d had such a fun evening. Before she left Esther pulled her to the side, and told her that she expected her to come back again soon, before pressing a slip of paper into her hands. When she looked down she saw that it was a recipe for the latkes they’d made that night, and she slipped it into her pocket, thanking Esther with a hug.


End file.
